The reading of every word on the E-R’s “Opinion” pages in Sunday’s edition left me with a nice bounce of hope and thankfulness. Your major local editorial and all columns and letters to the editor all reflected mature and nuanced observations of general human behavior and obviously thoughtful reflection on several issues all having to do with how us Americans live and communicate (or not) with each other.

When this type of public discourse occurred in my younger years it was simply received as “thoughtful,” “mature” or “helpful.” Sadly, some amongst us will, as Editor David Little said in his column, “reflexively” react based on their own truly narrow, not based on facts nor accurate data, special interests or fears. Those interests and/or fears are almost always purveyed by “merchants of mendacity (practice of lying, deceit)” as Leonard Pitts so beautifully put it in his column.

Yes, some of us will accept well-packaged falsehood if it makes us feel safer, more righteous, or closer to people we perceive can help or hurt us. However, delivery of facts and/or analysis to the public without anything I could identify but truth, common sense or the considered opinion of a responsible expert by the E-R on Sunday was much appreciated by this reader.